It’s becoming more common for businesses to depend on internet connectivity to be successful. The problem is, there are often complaints about slow connections and WiFi that is spotty at best.
What’s more, many businesses are opting to internally leverage their WiFi to avoid running multiple ethernet drops. In this scenario, however, when connection speeds are slow, it becomes hard to decipher whether the speed problems are from the WAN or the LAN.
In instances where speed problems arise from WAN, it is fairly simple to increase bandwidth, usually without taking too much of a hit to the wallet. The same can’t be said for LAN bottlenecks, which can be expensive and time-consuming.
If WAN is your problem
Your first step is to perform a speed test by hardwiring a laptop directly to your carrier hardware. If the results of your speed test return the bandwidth you’re paying for, your problem lies within your LAN. If your results are far below the bandwidth you’re paying for, you’ll need to contact your carrier and launch a support ticket.
If LAN is your problem
For LAN problems it gets a bit trickier. Below are the 4 most common LAN issues that will result in lower bandwidth.
Access point location, antennas or router
Your office size could have an impact on your bandwidth speed. For larger offices, you may need to have more than one access point, antenna or router to achieve adequate connectivity.
Even with a small office, you’ll still need to place your router in a centralized location to ensure everyone has the same connectivity. If you are unable to place your router in a central area, you can substitute with a directional antenna. Remember to keep physical barriers in mind as they can interfere with WiFi service too. Additionally, you can often get away with simply buying a stronger WiFi antenna.
Configuration
It wasn’t too long ago that everyone got their internet by plugging in an ethernet cable at their desk. For this reason, WiFi is still often set to the lowest priority and will only receive the bandwidth not being used by wired connections. Although WiFi won’t always be a top priority (that’s usually reserved for VoIP or video), it is important to move it higher up the ranks.
Congestion
There are so many IoT devices today that lower-end frequencies can often become congested. Many companies are still utilizing the 2.4 ghz range for their WiFi and there are now simply too many devices using this frequency.
To help lessen the congestion, you can switch your WiFi to the 5 ghz range, which is used less frequently. It should be noted, however, that hardware manufacturers have provided less support for 5 ghz to save money. For this reason, you should probably have both networks active to make sure all your devices work.
Range extenders
One of the bigger problems arise when employees try to fix the problem themselves without contacting IT. Often employees will install consumer grade range extenders or unmanaged switches. Not only will these cause WiFi speeds to degrade, but they can also create security problems.